Querying, filtering, ordering and managing data are common operations for clients accessing databases managed by a common server. Often these clients access and acquire data to present to users in one or more U/I (user/interface) views, or displays. Managing database queries can involve loading all the necessary data from the database to a client's memory, or cache. When a user requests a database view, i.e., a collection of data to be presented in a desired format, or order, the client that the user is accessing can retrieve all the data for the requested database view from the database, e.g., all the data stored in a database container that is responsive to the user requested database view. The client can then order the data and subsequently generate the requisite view, displaying a screen's worth of the database view to the user.
However, as databases become more populated, and thus larger, the retrieval of the data from its database becomes much more cumbersome and the process can take a not insignificant time. Moreover, arranging the retrieved data on the fly subsequent to a user database review request can be very processing intensive and, consequently, time consuming. These labor-intensive efforts upfront, prior to any display being generated in response to a user request, can pose user perceivable time delays. These noticeable time delays can, in turn, lead to user dissatisfaction and frustration and can themselves translate into less than optimal user performance.
Thus it is desirable to minimize the flow of communications, and data, between a server that supports a database and a client for database queries that are the result of user requests for database views. It is further desirable to communicate only the information that a client currently needs to mitigate user perceived delays in presenting U/I views to the user in response to user requested database views. It would also be advantageous to perform processes, or functions, supporting client database queries upfront and unattached to any particular client database query.